The Lovereading4Kids comment

Dazzling entertainment, seamless storytelling, this is the stunning 6th and final episode, bringing the bestselling ‘The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness’, which began so dramatically with Wolf Brother, to a close.

Now it is Torak’s last adventure; he must travel up into the mountains and find the Mountain of Ghosts to vanquish the terrifying Soul-Eaters. Along with Wolf and Renn, Torak faces chilling danger on their journey as they fulfil their destiny. Held in an icy grip, the richly imagined world of spirits and packs provides a dramatic background for Torak’s exceptional skills at survival, as well and for the desperate choices he and Renn have to make. Their final decisions will satisfy all. To view all the titles in this series, which for edge-of-the-seat action, adventure and mystery there is no equal, click here.

Synopsis

Ghost Hunter: Book 6 Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver

As winter approaches and Souls' Night draws near, the Eagle Owl Mage holds the clans in the grip of terror. To fulfill his destiny, Torak must seek his lair in the Mountain of Ghosts. He must defy demons and tokoroths, and find his way through the Gorge of the Hidden People. Wolf must overcome terrible grief. Renn must make an agonizing decision. And in the final battle against the Soul-Eater, Torak must face the most heart-rending choice of all.

Reviews

'If I could give this series a gold medal, a shiny star and a packet of jelly tots, and Michelle Paver her heart's desire, I would. Not a word disappoints. You're transported into Torak's hunter-gatherer world, a world that existed more than six thousand years ago, and there you stay until the very last page. There's no zeitgeist about it; no fashionable tag, no hooks but the story and the characters and the writing, and they are so much more than enough.' The Bookbag

'For parents and grandparents searching for something to replace Harry Potter, Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness have been a godsend. Thrilling, beautifully written, strongly characterised and featuring a magical prehistoric world, they have now sold one million copies in this country without any of the advertising and film promotions that other leading children's books have been given - though Ian McKellen, always shrewd, has done the magnificent audiobooks.' - Amanda Craig, The Times

'To have maintained a consistent quality of writing, storytelling and suspense over six books without missing a beat is extraordinary, though children will want only to race to the end.' - Amanda Craig, The Times

'The finale is a climax as intense as Tolkien's fall of Mordor, with demonic dogs, fiendish one-time children, and Soul-Eaters summoned from beyond the grave...Best of all, Paver succeeds in creating a conclusion with no mawkishness when she resolves the relationship between Torak and Renn and, of course, Wolf.' - Christina Hardyment in The Independent

'The treat of the year for me was Ghost Hunter... Meticulously researched, the scholarship is lightly worn.' - Melanie McDonagh, Evening Standard

About the Author

Born in Malawi in 1960 to a Belgian mother and a father who ran the tiny 'NYASALAND TIMES', Michelle Paver moved to the UK when she was three. She was brought up in Wimbledon and, following a Biochemistry Degree from Oxford, she became a partner in a big City law firm. She gave up the City to follow her long-held dream of becoming a writer. She is the author of the brilliantly successful children's series, THE CHRONICLES OF ANCIENT DARKNESS, the final book of which won the 2010 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize.

An Interview with Michelle Paver

Concerning literary influences, I’d name two principal ones: J.R.R. Tolkien, who inspired a lifelong love of myth and Anglo-Saxon and Norse literature, and who also deepened my appreciation for trees and forests; and Anthony Trollope, whose page-turning novels taught me much about storytelling.

They change from time to time, but here are the ones that have lasted. For heroes, it’s Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings and Hector from The Iliad. For villains, it’s Dracula (the Bram Stoker one, of course), and Stavrogin from The Devils.

In the main I did, but my most vivid memory concerns my one bad year. When I was about eleven, a new girl joined the class and took such a dislike to me that she got everyone else to gang up against me. It doesn’t sound too bad, but it was miserable and very lonely to go through. My mother told me to ignore the lot of them, which I did – and after a pretty rough year, the ringleader left, and things drifted back to normal. But I’ve never forgotten it. And it probably helped make me a writer, because for that year, I retreated into my imagination.

I worked as a solicitor in the City for thirteen years: lots of all-nighters and weekends in the office. The challenge made it fun for a while, but that soon palled. I don’t miss it at all.

Click here to read more about Michelle Paver and The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness:

Her most recent series is called Gods and Warriors - find out more about it by watching the video below.